THE ESSEX FIELD CLUB.
137
urged on all who might meet with specimens not to shoot or molest them. It
was quite possible that the bird might breed here—there was nothing in our
climate, or the character of some parts of the country, to prevent such a desirable
result of the present great irruption of this singular bird.
Mr. Crouch also exhibited a few old engravings of the Hall and Church,
portraits of Dr. Derham, etc., and read some notes upon the Manor and Village
(which are embodied in the fort going report), calling attention to some of the
more not worthy family portraits, among others to that of Captain Andrew
Branfill, the first owner of that name, with peaked beard and scarlet cat with
large white collar; his son Champion (named after Captain Branfill's favourite
vessel "The Champion," in which he made from Dartmouth, his native
place, many a successful and profitable voyage, and an old painting of which
off Portsmouth, is still an heirloom at the Hall), High Sheriff of Essex in
George II's time. He married Mary Braund of Romford, toasted in her
day as "The Belle of Essex," and whose two counterfeit presentments, said
to be the work of Sir Godfrey Kneller, still beam from the walls. Mr.
Crouch concluded by saying : "Upminster Hall forms a pleasant picture with
its many gable ends, old chimneys and windows, its beams, and panelling
and the series of pictures of the Branfill's and their connections which adorn the
walls. In such a place we seem to breathe a calm old-world atmosphere, rich
with the memories of olden days; and this greatly enhances the pleasure which
we must all feel at the kind and hospitable welcome we have received from Mr,
and Mrs. Hope to-day."
A vote of thanks was passed to Mr. Crouch for his services as Conductor,
on the proposal of Prof. Meldola and the Rev. Lancelot Sharpe. The latter
speaker asked whether any record existed of the various moated houses in Essex.
Mr. Crouch said that he contemplated compiling such a list, and would be glad of
any information on the subject from members of the Club. He referred to the
moated enclosure in the fields between Buckhurst Hill and Chigwell, concerning
which no information was forthcoming, either from local residents or from the
various histories of Essex.
[We have also to thank Mr. Crouch for the blocks of the two illustrations of
Upminster Hall; one is from a drawing made by Mr. H. A. Cole, from a
photograph taken by Mr. O. Osborne, and the other is from an old engraving in
the "Topographer," 1789.—Ed.]
Snow Crystals.—I am glad to find that the Rev. Linton Wilson has recorded
(E. N. ii. 53) the fact of the enormous size of crystals of snow occurring during
the sharp weather of February and March last I may add that the actual
measurement of some I noticed, on two separate days, was a trifle over one-sixth
of an inch ; and the six rays, with various combinations of form, were pretty clear
even to the naked eye. I have never noticed such large crystals myself since the
winter of 1860—I, when snow and frost was intense from Christmas to latter part
of January.—Walter Crouch, Wanstead, May 1st, 1888.
The Toper Shark (Calais vulgaris) on the Essex Coast.—A few days
since a female specimen of this shark was brought for my inspection, having been
captured in a shrimp trawl just outside the Colne. It was four feet nine inches
long Although much commoner on many of the British coasts, its rarity in our
Essex waters makes its occurrence worth recording. Our local fishermen appear
to know nothing of it.—Henry Laver, F.L.S., Colchester, August 26th,
1888.